Ferns favoured

Most interest for rabid rugby fans will, no doubt, be on the Wallabies and All Blacks at ANZ Stadium tonight but for those with a more than casual interest, the women's portion of the double-header will be worth a look. Very much flavour of the month, women's rugby deserves its billing, no more so than when it involves a transtasman rivalry. While the world champion Black Ferns have a number of new faces, including first five-eighths Ruahei Demant, they will be warm favourites. The two teams have met 14 times (the first in Sydney in

1994, the eighth outing for the Black Ferns, won

37-0 by the women in black). Australia have yet to win. They came closest in 2008. In the last clash in Sydney, they went down 22-16 — their fifth loss of five across the Tasman and their fourth in Sydney. The Black Ferns have won their seven home games against the Wallaroos — the most recent 44-17 in Christchurch in June last year. They have also won their only two World Cup battles — 36-3 in Spain in 2002 and 32-5 in England eight years later. The Black Ferns' most regular rivals have been England, who they have met 24 times. In contrast, the All Blacks and Wallabies have met 161 times with 69 of those games in Sydney, where the ABs are ahead

44-22, with three drawn. At ANZ Stadium, in its various guises, the All Blacks have won nine, lost seven and drawn one. In their most recent battle at the ground, New Zealand won 54-34 a year ago — the most points scored by a winning team in this fixture.